


I Remember You

by orphan_account



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-04
Updated: 2013-12-10
Packaged: 2018-01-03 11:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1069695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur was gone and Merlin wasn't, and then there was nothing. But then there was something. <br/>Years, centuries after Camelot had fallen, Merlin still lived, and something had driven him to do something, anything with himself. And who ever thought college was out of the question? <br/>Merlin majored in English and worked at the local library, telling stories to little kids. <br/>And everything changed when a familiar blond haired, blue eyed boy walked in one day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Don't I know you?

Merlin let out a small sigh, rolling over on to his stomach before pressing his face in between the pillows beneath his head. It was too damned early, but that feeling in the pit of his stomach was back, and it wouldn't go away. It was odd, a pinching and rolling sensation. It wasn't exactly unpleasant, but it was insistent, it demanded his attention. Letting out a huff of breath, Merlin turned his head to the side and kneaded his stomach. The digital alarm lock at his bedside read a flashing 6:30 A.M. A month ago Merlin would have already been up and getting ready for his 9:00 class, but as he graduated just two weeks ago, he didn't need to be up as early. Being an English Major wasn't as easy as he thought it would have been, but he managed to find a job at the local library, reading stories to little kids and restocking books, sometimes even working the front desk.   
Merlin didn't mind the job, he actually liked it quite a lot, it just wasn't what he was expecting. None of this was what he was expecting.   
After Arthur had died, Merlin lost track of time. Old friends had gone, and others had done the same. New things arose, the monarchy fell, and Merlin moved on. When he felt the Darkness creeping in, Merlin thought death was coming at last, it was his last hope when everything went black. But fortunately or unfortunately, Merlin woke to his old self, feeling the same as the first day he walked into Camelot, looking quite the same too.   
Hope had begun to spread like a wildfire, and the young warlock tried hard as hell to smother it. Just because he was restored to youth doesn't mean Arthur was reborn; maybe his king would never be reborn.   
Merlin forced the thoughts out of his head, they only made his stomach flare with this unusual feeling. Groaning softly he rolled out of bed, sure his shift didn't start until noon, but maybe he could take a long shower. A really long shower. A shave wouldn't hurt either.   

* * *

Two hours later Merlin emerged out of the single bedroom in the flat he rented, wrapped in a crimson red robe. The color held a lot of memories, some happy, and others painful, but Merlin couldn't seem to get rid of it. It mainly reminded him of Him. Maybe it was luck, maybe it was fate, maybe it was destiny, all Merlin knew was he was almost there. He almost was able to save the man he called king, the man he loved. After all those times, risking being found out to save Arthur's life at the cost of his own. And where did that get him? Nowhere, it seemed.   
Merlin once again brushed of the thoughts, pressing his palm against his lower stomach in slight wonder, but mainly annoyance. The clock above the stove blinked at him, 8:53. Dammit he still had a few hours, seeing as it took less than ten minutes to bike to the library.   
Rubbing his fingers around in small circles agains his stomach, Merlin strode through the kitchen, glancing out the window. Being early spring, the sun shone high in the sky, lighting up the kitchen with a yellowish hue. But Merlin felt rain, though there was no cloud in sight. Maybe it was just his attitude this morning. Shaking his head, the warlock beckoned the oats off the fridge and on to the counter, before pulling the yellowing fridge door open to pull out the mostly-gone jug of milk.   
Looks like he'll have to go grocery shopping today as well.   
Pouring himself a bowl, Merlin reached over to click on his voicemail.   
"Merlin! Missed you at Hannah's last night. You should've come! I'm sure the library would have made an exception for you. Besides, I was hoping to see you. Call me back." Merlin rolled his eyes, he could practically hear the smirk in Wayne's voice. Wayne was a good friend, and it wasn't that big of a secret that he had a thing for Merlin,  but he was young, and quite a bumbling idiot if you asked Merlin.   
Bumbling idiot.   
The words rang out in Merlin's mind, a voice all too familiar. Clear as day in his mind, Merlin could have sworn he was there.   
Dropping his bowl the short distance to the counter Merlin groaned, running a hand roughly though his hair. "Get it together dammit! He's not here!" /But he might have been if you had gotten to the lake in time./ The thought came before Merlin could stop it, and he found himself with his head in his hands, trying hard as hell to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. He wasn't going to cry, not over this, not again. Not because the pinching and rolling sensation intensified whenever Arthur was on his mind, where had that come from anyway? Merlin couldn't seem to find when it started, but he knew it was new.   
Shaking his hands back and forth as if he could brush away his nerves, Merlin dumped his breakfast down the drain and made his way back to the bedroom to throw some clothes on. 

* * *

Maybe a bike wasn't the best mode of transportation, but Merlin didn't have very far to go, and a bike was a hell of a lot more environmentally safe then a car, a hell of a lot cheaper too.  He still would have been fine on horse back, or a horse drawn carriage. Merlin trusted the animals a lot more then the mechanical contraptions on the street now, bet he couldn't say he didn't like the advances human kind had taken. Life now was completely different then the life he lived when he was simply Arthur's manservant. For one, magic has nearly died out. Not the fake magician stuff that people do for money, but real magic. Though Merlin's lingered. It seemed his magic grew stronger as the world's magic began to fade. Of course Merlin never told anyone, nor would he preform out of his home. It just wasn't necessary. It seemed Merlin never left his flat, unless for classes, that he no longer needed, or for necessary things like work, and groceries.   
He had few friends, Wayne and Lance, who he met during the summer sessions at the local community college. The pair reminded him of home, and home would always be Camelot. Merlin'd refused that thought for a long time, after his king was gone. He's left, just traveled where ever he could get away to. It didn't take long for Camelot to fall, it seemed it held on for a strong century before the kingdom went up in flames. Merlin didn't mourn, not for a long time. He'd pushed all feeling from body, from mind. For a long time Merlin was merely a shell, but as humanity progressed, Merlin slowly came back to himself. Which came to where he found himself today, walking his bike around the back of the library to lock it up.   
It seemed his earlier prediction might be coming true; the sky was darkening in the east with a set of nearly black clouds. A storm was coming.   
"Afternoon Merlin!" Sheila called from the front desk as Merlin walked in the back door. He grinned and waved, heading to the small staff room to drop of his bag. Locking up his locker, Merlin turned back to head over tithe children's section. Story time was scheduled for 1:00, so he ha to pick out today's book. The majority of those who attended were between the ages of three and seven, so Merlin favored picture books, but chose those which had more words than others. Of course he had to choose 'Where the Wild Things Are', it was a children favorite and it matched the theme of the library for the month.   
Merlin glanced over at the clock on the wall. He still had about twenty minutes until children and parents would show up, so he set his selection on the Reader's Chair and headed over to the main desk to chat with Sheila.   
Sheila was a nice woman, around forty years old and a little pudgy, but she was amazing with people. Gaius would have called her a charmer.   
"Hey Sheila," Merlin greeted with a grin, leaning on the back end of the desk. Sheila immediately smacked his elbow off the wood.   
"You're working, Merlin. What have I said about leaning on the desk?" She tsked more to herself than anything else, shaking her head. Merlin ducked his head as if he was ashamed, be he couldn't stop grinning. He just needed to get out of the house, that was all. The feeling in the pit of his stomach that morning was just his imagination, it was nothing.   
"Wayne came in this morning asking for you," Sheila continued, tapping away at her keyboard. "Asked for you."  
Merlin rolled his eyes. "Of course he did. What'd you say?"  
"Told him I'd tell you to call him. It sounds like you haven't been answering your phone calls Merlin, or getting out of your damn flat lately." Sheila tsked again, shooting a stern look over her shoulder. "Wayne is a nice boy..." By the way she trailed on the word boy, confirmed Merlin's suspicion. Wayne was terrible at hiding his little crushes.   
"Yes. He's a nice /boy/." Merlin let out a sigh, emphasizing the word boy. Wayne might be twenty-five, but he still acted like a high school student.   
"Merlin," Sheila stopped tapping away and turned around in her chair. "You can't wait around for him forever, whoever he is. You need to live your life." Merlin had never explained much of himself to anyone, but Sheila was a stubborn woman, and she knew, but she didn't know.   
"I'm not waiting for anyone," /Arthur/. "I don't know what you're talking about." Merlin couldn't meet her eye, and with the little "Uh-huh" noise she made, he knew Sheila wouldn't believe him even if he had been looking her in the eye.   
"Whatever you say, Merlin. Just do me a favor honey, if you insist on waiting for him. Don't sit on your damn ass and wait, go and /get/ him." Sheila was a stubborn woman, but Merlin had grown to love her.   
"Now go read to the little monsters."

Merlin snorted and headed back to the children's corner with a wave of his hand back at Sheila. When he returned to the little sitting space, there were a couple children already seated there.   
"Merlin!" A few voice peaked above the low mumble of the parents talking, and a little girl, about five ran up and wrapped her chubby arms around Merlin's bony leg.   
"Hey Gwen!" Merlin grinned, but he couldn't hide the fact that he nearly choked on the name, it being the same as his old friend from Camelot. That was in the past, and this was a completely different girl.   
"You're reading today?" Gwen's high pitched voice was hopeful and Merlin couldn't help but grin.   
"Of course I am, Sweetheart." He gently pat her head and sent her tumbling back to her mother, who smiled thankfully in Merlin's direction.   
There was still a few more minutes until the designated reading time, so Merlin spent the time walking around the small circle. There was a new comer in the group. A small girl appearing around the age of seven. She had black hair and here eyes were a lovely green color.   
"Hello, I'm Merlin." Merlin knelt next to the girl, extending his hand. "I don't think we've met."  
The girl's eyes were oddly calculating as she stared down Merlin's open palm before placing her smaller hand against it. "Morgan." She mumbled softly, the corners of her mouth tugging up. "Mom made him take me. We moved in eight days ago."  
"Is him your Dad? A brother? Uncle? Cousin?"   
Morgan giggled almost silently, as of she found Merlin amusing. "Brother. Are you the story-teller?"  
"I most certainly am."  
"My old story-teller was a girl."  
"We've got girl story-tellers too, but today it's me. Have you ever read 'Where The Wild Things Are'?"  
"Duh! It's one of Mommy's favorites."  
"Then you don't mind me reading it today?"  
"Not at all! 'R' should've come, he used to like Mommy reading it. 'R' and Daddy don't get along too well."  
Merlin nodded slowly, pretending to understand as much as he was trying to get the little girl to stop. He didn't need to hear about her home life, not something that was so personal like the relationship between her brother and father. And 'R'? What kind of name was that? 

* * *   
Merlin awoke panting, the name at the tip of his tongue. He had to bite down hard on his cheek do he wouldn't speak it aloud. Arthur. 

 The previous day, when the little girl, Morgan was picked up by her brother, presumably 'R', Merlin caught a glance of the boy's, man's, frame, and his blonde hair. Just the slightest glance and Merlin's heart was nearly beating out of his chest. But there was no way that 'R' was Arthur, it was just Merlin's mind playing with him. Arthur was Dead, he died in Merlin's arms, and no matter of wishing was going to change that. 

Merlin groaned silently and rolled over on to his stomach, pressing his cheek against the slightly damp pillow. There was no way he was going back to sleep, even if it was three in the morning. He couldn't risk dreaming again; it wasn't good for his mental health, his dreams were going to drive him insane.It's not that Merlin didn't like his dreams, he might have liked them more than he should. But he couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't dream of Him, he couldnt dream of Home. Merlin was done.   
Sighing to himself, Merlin rolled back on his back, staring at the ceiling for a moment before pushing himself up into a sitting position. Merlin rolled his shoulders as he stretched over to click on the beside lamp before opening his nightstand drawer to pull out his notepad and pen.   
On nights like this Merlin found comfort in writing. No matter how hard he tried to steer clear of that topic, he always found himself writing about Arthur. His vast open, nearly always messy rooms, the way his voice lightened when he teased Merlin, his laugh, the curve of his instep when he insisted he had to bathe with his feet out of the water, the ways his eyes lit up when Gwen walked in the room, the way he and his knights laughed after a long day's journey, the curve of his lips when he grinned, the blue of his eyes, the bulk of his arms, Arthur. Just Arthur.   
With a content sigh, Merlin flipped passed the pages full of his own handwriting to the first clear page, and he wrote. He just wrote, pouring his heart and soul into every word, every memory.   
At some point during his frantic scribbles, Merlin's thoughts took a different direction. Every kiss, ever touch, ever embrace Merlin had witnessed Arthur endure flashed through his mind and a wave of white hot jealousy spread through his body, making his jaw clench and his pen-hand hesitate. Even after all these years Merlin still yearned for Arthur, to be the one to hold him, to touch him, and dare he even think it, kiss him.   
Merlin wet his lips and shook his head, but the thought wouldn't budge. The picture in his mind was so vivid, it was almost like a memory, and Merlin could almost feel the gain ghost of Arthur's lips against his own. With a defeated sigh Merlin let himself imagine the moment.  
Arthur would have been teasing, dragging out the beginning of the moment with that damned smirk of his, and Merlin could feel the heat rising to his cheeks and ears, a flushed pink or a darker red. He imagined himself being fed up with Arthur's teasing games and pushing himself up on the balls of his feet with the slightest peck of his lips against Arthur's. That would silence the ass, and it would be Merlin's turn to tease, pretending to be uninterested and slip from the confines of Arthur's arms. But he wouldn't get that far, with a sound from within his throat, Arthur would pull him back flush against his chest. And them the damned prince would finally, finally kiss Merlin.   
With a slight sigh Merlin shook the image from his head. It would never happen now, so there was no use daydreaming about it. The warlock's heart sunk, he would never know the feeling of Arthur's lips against his own, he'd never be able to taste his king, never to hold, never again to touch.   
Merlin didn't notice the wetness on his cheeks until the alarm on the nightstand started blaring. The time had passed startlingly fast and the clock at his side read a flashing 6:45 A.M.   
Wiping his cheeks repeatedly Merlin gently closed his notepad and slipped back inside it's drawer along with his pen. Merlin's shift started at 10 this morning, and story time today was at 11 since is was a Sunday. Which also meant Wayne would be at the library today. With another sigh and a roll of his eyes, Merlin rolled out of bed and headed for the shower. 

* * *

Three hours later Merlin was showered, dressed, fed and peddling his bike down the side walk while humming to himself. He felt amazingly better after a hot shower, cleansing away his negative feelings, in fact, Merlin couldn't remember the last time he felt this good. Well, that good until he was locking up his bike in the back. Merlin jumped when a pair of rough hands covered his eyes.   
"Guess who?" The voice was falsely high pitched with a familiar hint of a smirk.   
"You're such an ass, Wayne." Merlin jabbed the man behind him in the ribs with his elbow, pushing off the hands coving his eyes.   
"C'mon, you weren't at Hannah's not have you been returning my phone calls. You're not avoiding me, ate you Merlin?"   
Merlin might have felt bad, just a little bit, if it hadn't been for the teasing tone Wayne's voice always held.   
" 'Course not, been busy." The lie was straightforward, easily spoken as Merlin made his way to the back entrance, key-card in hand. Grudgingly, Merlin almost flinched when Wayne swung his arms around his shoulders, the closeness was making Merlin uneasy. After all, he'd clearly stated his disinterest for anything more than a friendship between them, as if that would stop Wayne.   
Once they were inside the library Merlin casually slipped out from under Wayne's arm to go lock his bag in his locker, which of course Wayne tagged along to watch.   
"I picked out a book for you. To read to the little ones." Wayne's voice was a little sheepish and the smile was evident in it.   
"Yeah? What book?"  
" 'I Love You This Big'." Even more Sheepish.   
Merlin refuse the urge to cringe at the not-so-subtle hint. "Good book." He mumbled, avoiding Wayne's eyes as he walked out of the locker room, towards the front desk. Sadly, today was Sheila's day off, so she wasn't here to save Merlin from this embarrassment.   
With a glance at his watch Merlin noted it was nearly 10:20. He was about to tell Wayne that he was going to go sit in the children's corner when a voice broke through his thoughts.   
" 'R' come on! Come meet the story-teller!" Immediately Merlin recon sized the voice as Morgan.    
"Alright, alright. Slow down Morgan!". Merlin's heard stopped. He knew that voice, he could never forget that voice. The warlock squeezed his eyes shut tightly, pressing his fingers to his temples. He needed to calm down, he couldn't calm down.   
"R, that's Merlin." Morgan said proudly, and when Merlin finally opened his eyes, looking toward the source, he couldn't breath. Only three feet away, there he stood.   
Arthur


	2. Well This Is Perfect, Isn't It?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin is bashful, Morgan won't let him be, Arthur's confused, Wayne is flirtatious and Lance is slightly helpful.

Merlin couldn't help avoiding Arthur's eyes, he wouldn't be able to stand it if there was no recondition in them. And he wouldn't be able to contain himself if there was.   
"Morgan he must be busy, let's go back tithe corner and wait." Arthur's voice was impassive, and there was no hint of recognition within it.   
"No, it's fine." Merlin had to force the words through his throat, swallowing hard. "Hey Morgan!" He forced a smile. "Glad you could come today."  
Morgan's head tilt slightly to the side, she was very calculating for a seven year old, and it took her a moment before a broad grin spread across her face and she surfed forward, wrapping her arms around Merlin's waist, the side of her face pressing against his abdomen. As of she sensed Merlin's discomfort with the situation.   
Startled, Merlin placed a hand against Morgan's back, smiling softly. "It's nice to see you too, Morgan." Merlin chuckled.   
"I hope you don't mind," Morgan whispered so Merlin had to strain to hear. "'R's been lonely. And you're nice."  
Lonely  
And you're nice.   
Merlin's heart swelled, partially in worry for his king, and partially because Morgan came to /him/ for Arthur.   
Arthur with no memory of him.   
Merlin immediately deflated and a small huff of air escaped his lungs and he slowly forced his head into a nod, patting Morgan on the back.   
"I don't mind," He lied.   
For a moment Morgan's eyes narrowed as she lifted her head, watching his expression before the same grin spread across her features. "Thank you, Merlin." She beamed, letting her arms fall from his waist before she turned back to Arthur, running over to grab his hand, dragging him back in the direction of the children's section. 

When Arthur was no longer visible Merlin let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.   
"That was intense." Wayne teased.   
Merlin scoffed and shoved his shoulder.   
"I'll be out about two," Merlin caved, rolling his eyes and taking his keys out of his pocket before tossing them at Wayne. "Don't touch the fridge."   
"Sure thing, Boss." Wayne shot back, but the grim plastered on his face betrayed his annoyed tone.   
With a shake of his head Merlin wandered off back to the Children's section. And this time, only part of him wondered how Wayne was going to take this, only part of him felt bad. 

* * *  
Merlin laughed softly when his eyes fell on the book laid out on his usual chair, and immediately the sound stopped and his eyes darted around the room. Near the back, leaning against the side of a bookshelf was Arthur, with Morgan in his lap.  
Morgan must have asked him to stay.   
Merlin's stomach flip-flopped when Arthur sent him a nod in acknowledgement.  Morgan sent him a sweet smile and then his eyes were circling the room again, and slowly everyone's eyes turned to him expectantly.   
Little Gwen waved happily at him, as did a few of the other children. The back corner was surprisingly full today.   
"Hey guys!" Merlin grinned, grabbing the book off his chair before settling himself into it.  A small chorus of 'Hi Merlin!'s filled the room and Merlin's smile broadened. Sometimes Merlin felt as if the children loved him as much as he loved them.   
With a satisfied smile Merlin opened the book in his lap, with a quick glance back at Arthur and began reading. 

* * *

When Merlin finished the book, he couldn't help glancing around the room once more, eyes settling on Arthur, and for a moment time stood still as Arthur's eyes met his.   
And then the children began to stir, and little Gwen approached him, taking advantage of the fact that he was still sitting to wrap her little arms around his chest.   
"Oof!" Merlin faked surprise, eyes going downward to meet her silly grin.   
"I like that one," Gwen mumbled, most likely commenting on the book as she once again pressed her face against Merlin's chest.   
Merlin chucked softly, resting his hand on Gwen's back. "I do too," he assured her as his mind flicked back to Wayne sheepishly telling him the book he'd picked out.    
And then his train of thought was broken by that heart wrenching voice. "Morgan, he's busy."  
Then Gwen was pulling away to look behind her to whoever was speaking. Merlin smiled sheepishly. "Hey Morgan!"  
Arthur shot him what Merlin was assuming was an apologetic glance, but he waved it off.   
"This is Gwen, Gwen this is Morgan."   
The two littles studied each other carefully until Gwen's mother came up to retrieve her daughter with a smile in Merlin's direction and a mumbled 'You read the story beautifully, Merlin'.   
Merlin found that he was actually blushing, heat bubbling up over his cheeks and ears.   
"Will you be here next story time?" Gwen asked, finally speaking to Morgan.   
"Yes," Morgan said, sending a pointed look up at Arthur.   
"Kay!" Gwen smiled sweetly and let her mother pull her away.   
Merlin almost wanted to call Gwen back, have her sit here with him, anything from having to speak with Arthur. He didn't know if he could do it.   
"I liked the story," Morgan commented, breaking Merlin's train of thought.   
"Did you? Wayne picked it out." Merlin didn't understand the need to add in that last part, it just slipped out.   
"Who's Wayne?" The way Morgan pronounced the name was like it was her first time hearing it, let alone saying it.   
"The boy I was talking to earlier." Merlin answered a little sheepishly.   
"Is he your boyfriend?" Morgan's voice was simply curious and slightly tainted with accusation.   
"Morgan!" Arthur warned, grabbing his little sister's hand. "Don't be rude."  
"No, it's fine." Merlin said, though his previous blush had returned with a darker shade. "Wayne's not my boyfriend, just a friend."   
When Merlin had finished Morgan broke out into a grin and slipped her hand out Arthur's grip before throwing her arms around Merlin's shoulders.   
"'R' likes your eyes," She whispered almost silently in Merlin's ear, sending the warlock's heart into a race against itself.   
"Are you reading again tomorrow?" Morgan asked, casually pulling away before Merlin could come up with a response to her previous statement.   
"Yes Ma'am." Merlin stammered, pushing himself up put of the chair.   
Morgan seemed to exhale in relief before looking between Arthur and Merlin. "See you tomorrow then."   
Before Merlin could process what was happening, Arthur was holding out his hand. It took Merlin a moment to realize what he meant to do, and another moment to slip his hand in Arthur's grip.   
"It was nice meeting you, Merlin." Arthur's tone sounded like he meant it, but he only thought he was doing it to please Morgan.   
"The same to you, Arthur." Merlin had a hard time choking out the words in a presentable manner, and for a moment Arthur's eyes crinkled with concern before flashing back to their original state.   
"See you tomorrow then," Arthur smiled politely, making Merlin's heart stutter, before pulling Morgan along with one last glance over his shoulder.   
That was when Merlin collapsed. 

* * *

"'M fine." Merlin's protest was a weak one as the current librarian, Jodie, held out her hand impatiently.   
"Hand it over, Merlin, and I'll call Wayne for you." Jodie's voice was sweet, soft, and soothing, but her words were something entirely different. Calling Wayne was the last thing Merlin wanted to do.   
"Wayne has my keys," Merlin spoke more to himself than anything as the memory came back. He wanted to hit himself for slipping up so easily. He shouldn't be encouraging Wayne, but that seemed to be what he was doing.   
Jodie's hands were on her hips and her mouth opened after a few moments, ready to tell Merlin off, but the look on his face stopped her.   
"Merlin, seriously honey, you need to be clear with Wayne."   
Why did it seem everyone in the damn library knew about Wayne's crush before Merlin did, despite the little hint's that had been dropping everywhere along the way.   
Merlin's memory flicked back to the night he'd finally realized how close Wayne wanted to be. It was another night at Hannah's, and Merlin hardly wanted to be there, but it was one of the few times that he, Lance and Wayne were together, note that Merlin had a job. That was the night Wayne had kissed him.   
And for a confused moment, Merlin had kissed him back.   
And then shoved him away.   
Wayne had called Merlin for three days straight after that, asking about that night, and then resorting to begging Merlin to answer the phone. And on the fourth day, Merlin did.   
"I'm trying to, Jo." Merlin swore, shaking away the memory. "I'll send him home when I get back." Merlin swore, though even he knew that wouldn't happen. But after that, Jodie went back to the front desk with a sigh, leaving Merlin to collect his things, and himself before making his way back home. 

* * *

When Merlin got back to his flat there was a note hastily taped to his door with only one word on it.   
'Hungry'  
Merlin snorted and shook his head, knowing that meant Wayne was no longer in. The thought brought a relived sigh out of Merlin as he opened the unlocked door.  
His keys were on the table, and Merlin laid his bag next to it, heading for the phone resting in the kitchen.   
There was one person he could talk to, needed to talk to about all of this. 

On the third ring, the line was picked up. 

"Hey Lance, how do you feel about reincarnation?"   
"Scream, call me insane, hang up. Lance, /say something/." Merlin pleaded, carding a hand though his hair. It was one thing to sit there and pour his heart and memories out, to trust one person with all of this information. To sit here and go back, starting all the way from the beginning. But part of Merlin trusted Lance, even with this.   
"It doesn't exactly come as a surprise," Lance's voice was steady and calm as he spoke, baffling Merlin just as much as the words did.   
"I just told you the old legends about King Arthur, Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table we're true, and that you remind me of the first knight Lancelot, as well as my thinking, no, /knowing/ that Arthur has at last been reincarnated. Let alone that I myself am the sorcerer Merlin, and it /'doesn't come as a surprise'/?" Merlin's imitation of Lance's voice was poor, but it was an imitation all the same.   
"I grew up listening to stories of Camelot, my mother always believed in old legends, gods and great kingdoms. I grew up listening to her ramble on about King Arthur, and the sorcerer Merlin." Lance paused, "Maybe this isn't the best conversation to have other the phone. I'm calling Wayne, because I believe he has a right to know, and we'll be there within the hour."  
Before Merlin could form a protest, Lance had hung up. 


End file.
